Protests of Galápagos plastic pollution from Chinese fishing fleet fall on deaf ears

The environmental group Ecoagents claims that more than 70% of the plastic pollution in the Galápagos Islands is dumped from Chinese fishing vessels that crowd protected waters the islands. The group claims that about 160 tons of plastic waste washes onto Galápagos shores each year.

Most of the plastic pollution washing onto Galápagos Island shores is from Chinese fishing ships.

Ecoagents, supported by other environmental organizations, delivered a letter to the Chinese embassy in Quito on Tuesday, protesting the damage resulting from fishing fleet pollution. “The plastic waste from your industrial fishing operations puts at risk many protected species in the Galápagos archipelago,” the letter said. “We ask that you reposition your fleet away from the protected waters zone and keep plastic waste onboard.”

Ecoagents says that hundreds of volunteers patrol the Galápagos shoreline on an ongoing basis, collecting discarded plastic. “It has been determined by analysis that the vast majority of waste is dumped from Chinese fishing ships,” the group said in press release. “We have sent many messages to owners of the vessels, as well as to the Chinese government, without positive response.”

According to the Ecuadorian government, Chinese fishing fleets numbering as many 300 boats, anchor at the Galapagos protected water boundary for five or six months a year. The environmental ministry met with Chinese embassy officials in February asking their government to intercede with fishing fleets to relocate away from the Galápagos. Ministry officials say they received a “positive response” but have seen no effort to change the location of the fleets.

Fabián Lliguin, founder of Ecoagents, says he has requested a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Chen but has not received an appointment.

Lliguin warned that plastic pollution poses an immediate threat to species such as flamingos, octopuses and penguins. “This because the plastic is collecting in the mangroves and other breeding areas,” he says. “The Chinese are damaging one of Ecuador’s and the world’s environmental jewels, and they are doing it for entirely selfish interests.” He added: “They can change this by keeping waste on board and re-anchoring away from the islands but they refuse.”

Alberto Andrade, spokesman for the environmental group Más Galápagos, claims that pressure should also be put on the Chinese fleet when it fishes off the waters of Chile and Peru. “We need to reposition the boats further from Galápagos waters, but we also must stop the pollution from happening further south,” he said. “The Humboldt current, which flows from the south and brings biodiversity to the islands, also carries plastic pollution from the Chinese fleet as it flows north.”